[Astral Abyss]

Working through some language barriers and possible misunderstandings, but it looks like it is indeed possible to swap the RCA coax for an HDMI connection at the cost of $30.  I have asked to make this change.  That should give me USB, BNC, optical, and IIS via HDMI for my inputs.
 
Wow, this is going to be an extremely robust DAC for such a low entry price.  I have faith in Kingwa that it will sound amazing as well.

 

[slex]

If its upgradable without hardware manipulation, this new features could last long. Whats the cost of feature software upgrade--???

 

[dlyz]

Just ordered DAC-19 3 days ago. Looking forward to my first desktop dac.

 

[Astral Abyss]

  Working through some language barriers and possible misunderstandings, but it looks like it is indeed possible to swap the RCA coax for an HDMI connection at the cost of $30.  I have asked to make this change.  That should give me USB, BNC, optical, and IIS via HDMI for my inputs.
 
Wow, this is going to be an extremely robust DAC for such a low entry price.  I have faith in Kingwa that it will sound amazing as well.

 
Got the change made.  They have now added it as Option 5 on the Singularity custom page.

 

[eschell27]

Awesome...that makes getting one of these nearly irresistible! That's a killer line up of inputs on a dac in this price range!

 

[eschell27]

I have a question directed towards anyone who has played around with installing/uninstalling input modules on the dac-19 10th... i ordered an hdmi i2s input module from AGD, the wiring harness was already put together by them supposedly ready for plug and play... i finally got the Amanero usb module unplugged from the board (it was glued in place was a huge pain in the ass to get out carefully) i sent kingwa an email with pics asking him what to do with the wire from the amanero board that was soldered directly to the main board and he said it would be eliminated so i just snipped the wire as you'll see in the pic so i could get the amanero board out. I did not want to have to worry about desoldering it unless it is necessary as with the other item (think it's a transistor?) that was soldered into the same spot and 2 others on the main board. I plugged in the i2s module then to my singxer su-1 switched the input and not getting anything. I have yet to email AGD as i think they are away for the chinese new years right now but is my problem possibly that i need to remove that wire and the other piece (if someone can tell me what that is so i can refer to it by it's actual name i would feel far less like a dumby haha) i have circled in the picture?
 
Any info is appreciated. Thanks!
 

 

[Bombik]

I sent you PM.

 

[eschell27]

Does anyone know the order of the pin out/wires on the hdmi i2s module itself? It appears they are labeled on the main board socket but not on the module itself. I want to double check that my i2s module came wired correctly as it still is not working.
 

 
 

 
I know it looks like there are labels ont he pin holes...but there are two sets of wires holes and the ones that are wired up that i need to check on are not labeled.
 
**EDIT**
 
After some help from Bombik who has also gone through the same procedure... we realized that our hdmi i2s modules had the wiring harness backwards. In order to avoid resoldering the wires on the module, i popped the pins on the plastic connector, rearranged the wires, reopened the little clips so the wires will stay in the connector and like magic i have audio. Now for the really fun part, taking off the back panel which requires removing all the back rca/spdif/etc in order to cut a hole for the hdmi connector and screws... since all of the other input/outputs are glued to the back panel this will not be much fun so i am considering taking off the cases left side panel and putting the hdmi i2s module on it, which might be a little wonky but would allow me to leave the Amanero board in the case disconnected and will make this process a lot easier. Hmmmm... decisions decisions... Any thoughts?
 

 
Like i said... might be sorta weird but would cut the work and risk of screwing anything up way down.
 
**Initial impression**
SU-1 > DH Labs Silver Sonic HDMI > i2s input DAC-19 10th = 

 

[dlyz]

Hoping Dac-19 will arrive before Chinese New Year so i can enjoy it during the holidays + i took annual leave from work. I have 2 questions for the seniors here.
 
1. If i turn on the dac and play nothing, does that count as run in? or should i play something but leave my amp turned off. (Im on speakers so i don't want run them 24hrs to run in)
 
2. Did you guys upgrade your usb cable or power cord?
 
Thx.

 

[Jozurr]

My DAC-19 is up for sale if someones interested.

 

[eschell27]

  Hoping Dac-19 will arrive before Chinese New Year so i can enjoy it during the holidays + i took annual leave from work. I have 2 questions for the seniors here.
 
1. If i turn on the dac and play nothing, does that count as run in? or should i play something but leave my amp turned off. (Im on speakers so i don't want run them 24hrs to run in)
 
2. Did you guys upgrade your usb cable or power cord?
 
Thx.

 
To the best of my knowledge in order to be burning it in, you need to be feeding the dac music from what ever your source is but you don't have to have your speaker/headphone amps on that way you don't have to hear it 24/7.
 
I did upgrade my usb and power cables. Can't say how much of a difference usb and power cables made on their own, but i wouldn't over spend on either if it were me. A Pangea AC14 se MKII power cord ($60) and a Supra usb cable (~$50).. In combination with a decent DDC/transport and power filter/conditioner it has sure made a nice difference to my ears.
 
I listened to mine stock for a couple of months before playing around with changing the sound signature via the dsp jumper settings.
Worth checking out though. 
 
http://www.audio-gd.com/Pro/dac/DAC1911/DAC19EN_Use.htm
http://www.basshead.club/audio-gear/master-11-info/    (this page is based on the master 11, but same settings apply to the dac-19)
 
After playing around with it quite a bit, i've found myself enjoying NOS / PLL Disabled / -90dB Stopband ATT
 
At any rate, you will love the new dac! Enjoy!

 

[Pharmaboy]

  Hoping Dac-19 will arrive before Chinese New Year so i can enjoy it during the holidays + i took annual leave from work. I have 2 questions for the seniors here.
 
1. If i turn on the dac and play nothing, does that count as run in? or should i play something but leave my amp turned off. (Im on speakers so i don't want run them 24hrs to run in)
 
2. Did you guys upgrade your usb cable or power cord?
 
Thx.

 
I got a NOS 19 in August. It's similar to the DAC-19 (same chassis, same chips, but no oversampling capability). So I'll just tell you what I've done.
 
1. Power cable: I bought my NOS 19 from Magni Hifi in the Netherlands. The only problem was they shipped it with a European-only type power cable (though this unit is 120V and we don't use that type of cable in the U.S. But no problem...I just hooked it up with my favorite inexpensive power cable, a Signal Cable "Digital Reference" cable ($54 for 4 ft. length). It's 14 gauge, far more pliable and manageable than the other cables in his lineup. It works perfectly: http://signalcable.com/videopower.html
 
2. USB cable: I have a solid but inexpensive cable, Belden Gold (~$40) which I will be upgrading fairly soon to a well-reviewed USB cable recommended by another DAC-19 owner on this thread, the Supra USB 2.0. This link is for .7M, not quite long enough for me. I'll have to get a 1.0M version: http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/152131344830?lpid=82&chn=ps&ul_noapp=true
 
But beyond just the cable, that DAC-19 owner and I use S/PDIF boxes between the USB cable and the DAC. He uses a Singxer SU-1, which costs ~400 and outputs digital signal to the DAC via multiple connection types (ie, coax BNC/RCA; balanced XLR; HDMI); others on the thread recommend the Singxer F-1, which outputs in RCA coax only. I will get an SU-1 fairly soon. For the time being, I use a Musical Fidelity 24/192 V-Link converter, which outputs RCA coax.
 
The goal is to supercede the USB input chip/receiver that's in the DAC-19 or NOS 19 with something a little better. I've been using V-Links for years; I prefer the sound of coax inputs on every DAC I've had, and the NOS 19 is no different (I compared its pretty good USB implementation w/coax input from the V-Link...coax always wins).
 
As if that werent' confusing enough, I have another device between the USB cable coming from my desktop computer and the USB input of the V-Link: a USB Regen, which cleans up the USB signal coming from the computer and supplements the power so your USB signal is not simply buss-powered, as it would be coming straight from the computer to the DAC.
 
All to say: there are multiple ways to upgrade the signal you feed to your new DAC-19. I can't say for sure you would perceive any of these upgrades as an improvement--but I have, so it's worth doing. After all, this is an endgame DAC.

 

[Astral Abyss]

  Hoping Dac-19 will arrive before Chinese New Year so i can enjoy it during the holidays + i took annual leave from work. I have 2 questions for the seniors here.
 
1. If i turn on the dac and play nothing, does that count as run in? or should i play something but leave my amp turned off. (Im on speakers so i don't want run them 24hrs to run in)
 
2. Did you guys upgrade your usb cable or power cord?
 
Thx.

 
1. Play some music.  Don't need to connect the amp.
 
2. Did you opt for the Amanero USB upgrade?  I've got the Amanero in my DAC-19 and I'm perfectly happy with it.  Otherwise, you might want to try an external USB digital-to-digital converter (DDC) as mentioned above for the absolute best sound.  For cables, I'm using one of the Schiit Audio USB 3ft cables from my computer to the DAC-19.  In my opinion, if you want the best cable for the money, buy a high-end Belkin USB cable.  Can't go wrong.  The USB port on your computer is more important than the cable.  If it's sharing power among other devices or simply not supplying full power, noisy, or using a 3rd party chipset on your motherboard, you may have some issues with sound quality.  Also, if your computer is running other tasks and is being over stressed, you can get pops and other noise.  That's irrespective of the cable.
 
I'm not really into power cord upgrades, but that said, I do believe in using the correct gauge power cord for the task.  With the limited amount of power the DAC-19 requires, I'm not certain upgrading the power cord is going to make any appreciable difference.

 

[dlyz]

Thanks for the tips guys.Its a lot to take in but i will go over them a few times. Nice to know how others are running their Dac-19. What drew me to this dac were keywords i picked up jumping around the pages (musical, natural, not harsh, end game dac, etc) I listen to a lot of female vocals (including mainstream stuff) and the thing i hate the most is bright, harsh, sibilance.
 
I guess i will feed them music with the amp off when i'm not around. I will look into getting that Supra USB 2.0 soon. I have a Supra and Van Den Hul power cord on my stereo amps and can use those to try later on. Also i have the Tacima C929 mains filter that i will plug into. I'm a little skeptical on expensive USBs but i'm willing to try for myself before passing judgement.
 
I got the Amanero upgrade with mine. I also have a optical cable from monoprice i bought years ago which i can try.
 
I always intended to get a desktop dac but i always put it off due to other hobbies and generally actually quite happy with current setup. I am on Asus Xonar STX and recently plugged in my Centrance DacPort and wow a lot difference a dac made. That reignited my quest for desktop dac, lol. DacPort can be a tad bit harsh and bright for me on my speakers but ok for my Beyer Dynamic T51p. My speakers are Dynaudio DM2/8, amp is NuForce IA-7 v3. I also have a Dynaudio Audience 122 that i sometime switch in.

 

[Pharmaboy]

 

 
Based on your description of your system and limited experience with DACs, I suspect the DAC-19 will end up really blowing your mind. My unit is the non-oversampling version of the DAC-19, so it sounds somewhat different (in the direction of analog tonality & freedom from digital brightness)--but the stock DAC-19 is pretty widely admired for those same qualities, and can be user-modified to become more or less warm/analog using jumpers shipped w/the unit.
 
I already has years of experience w/DACs, knew how critical they were to my system The NOS-19 has subtly but totally changed my system for the better. Any other DACs I try (standard Delta/Sigma DAC designs) don't sound as good now, even the overachieving, inexpensive D/S DAC I'd been happy w/before the NOS 19, the Peachtree Audio DAC iTx.
 
Comment about burn-in: when people on this tread say these Audio GD DACs benefit from lengthy burn-in, they're not kidding. My NOS 19 changed significantly in sound from day-1 to 100 hrs, then again by 200 hrs. It kept changing in slight but beneficial ways until ~400 hrs. I was listening to the unit the whole time--I work in a home office w/music on ~12 hrs/day, and it sounded good the entire time. But it clearly got better as the hours piled up.